May 3, 2016

New York announced a settlement with Aby J. Rosen, a major contemporary art collector, for failing to pay millions in sales and use taxes on art acquisitions made by his companies. Rosen will pay $7 million following the Attorney General’s investigation into the use of resale certificates. The Attorney General alleges that beginning in 2002, Mr. Rosen bought or commissioned more than $80 million worth of contemporary art, but did not pay applicable State and City sales and use taxes on the purchases. Between 2002 and 2015, Mr. Rosen used two companies, known as 22nd Century Acquisitions LLC and Lever House Artwork LLC, to purchase and, in Lever House Artwork’s case, commission artwork, claiming an exclusion from sales tax on the basis that the purchases and commissions were for resale. NY

Tagged in: Tax Fraud,